# Humidifier upgrade for the Xikar 18-24 count travel humidor



## mrnuke (Aug 24, 2013)

We all hate foam humidifiers. They are terrible at about anything they do. There is nothing more frustrating than getting a new humidor, full size or travel, and needing to throw out the humidifier on its first day. When I got my Xikar 18-24 count travel humidor, I knew I had to forget everything about relying on the provided humidifier. The nice thing about this travel case is that it comes with a removable humidifier. The humidifier attaches magnetically to a metal plate glued to the lid. One could get a Heartfelt small round humidifier, but I doubt it would be a perfect fit, like the original puck (the HF puck is about 3/8 smaller, leaving a nasty gap). 




















So, in pioneering spirit, I decided to see what the humidifier was made of. As suspected, the business end is the same green foam that crumples when you touch it. I took the foam out, rinsed the humidifier puck with distilled water, and dried it with a paper towel.




















Are you thinking what I'm thinking?














Yes!! Those are 65% heartfelt beads. The empty puck weighed about 0.70 ounces empty, and 1.40 ounces with the beads. That's 0.70 ounces of the world's best cigar humidification device. Let's do some calculations. the humidor is approximately 9"x8"x5". That comes to about 360 cubic inches of space. Dave recommends 1 ounce per 540 cubic inches, so 0.7 ounces humidifies 378 cubic inches. Perfect!!!


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## SigMike (Jul 9, 2013)

Do you think you will have beads falling out? I guess you would have to sprits the beads to not over humidify?

I like your idea....I might have to try it our when I get some extra beads in.


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## mrnuke (Aug 24, 2013)

The stainless steel mesh seems to be doing a reasonable job at keeping the beads in. I doubt I'll have issues.


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## ShotgunLuckey (Jul 19, 2013)

That's a great idea.....good thing I held on to all those "useless" pucks


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## wittywon (Sep 10, 2013)

I like this a lot. Thanks for the idea, I have 2 cases that may get this upgrade.


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## JustinThyme (Jun 17, 2013)

My upgrade was a boveda pack when Im actually using it.


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## Fuzzy (Jun 19, 2011)

I have replaced the foam with beads in one of my humidors.

Since this is an airtight traveldor, i suspect you would not need any sort of humidifier at all as long as the cigars are at where you want them when put in.

I have a ten ct. traveldor that was lost under the seat of my Wrangler for a month or so after a camping trip and the cigars still smoked fine without any sort of humidification.


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## mrnuke (Aug 24, 2013)

Fuzzy said:


> Since this is an airtight traveldor, i suspect you would not need any sort of humidifier at all as long as the cigars are at where you want them when put in.


Why 'suspect' things will be alright, when I can make sure they will? If you are going to open this container 18 to 24 times to take a stick out each time, can you still be so confident it will hold the perfect RH?

:2 For $1.75 (the cost of the beads), I'd rather have the piece of mind.


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## felker14 (Jun 20, 2013)

Good idea. I be updating my travel case in near future.


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## Fuzzy (Jun 19, 2011)

mrnuke said:


> Why 'suspect' things will be alright, when I can make sure they will? If you are going to open this container 18 to 24 times to take a stick out each time, can you still be so confident it will hold the perfect RH?
> 
> :2 For $1.75 (the cost of the beads), I'd rather have the piece of mind.


Did not mean to take anything away from what you did! Beads do provide me with a comforting feeling in most all my storage.

Just mentioned that the thing could be air tight. I do not stress over "perfect" RH when travelling and have had no real issues from short term opening of my traveldors, even on days such as today when the ambient RH was near 90%. As long as my cigars smoke well, I am a happy camper. I have four traveldors from 5 ct. to one that could hold about 40 or so. Used for travelling up to a week or so, I do not worry with no humidifier. If I use the bigger two, I may put in a tubo loaded with dry beads or even a HF 65% sheet. Mine are not used for long term storage.


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## mrnuke (Aug 24, 2013)

Nice drill job! I can't imagine the patience it took to get that drilled up.

I'm not taking your airtight comment as a "neah, no big deal". I just wanted to point out that airtight does not necessarily mean consistent RH. As you may have realised by now, I am addicted to HF beads. 

Think of this. You prepare your traveldor in your air-conditioned home, close it, get a perfect RH, then go on a camping trip. The traveldor will heat up, and the saturation vapour pressure increases with the rise in temperature, but the vapour pressure of the water in the case remains the same. Your RH has just dropped, and now the sticks are slowly releasing water to compensate. Sure, the sticks will smoke fine for a day or two, but from what I've been reading in other threads, most people freak out when they have one molecule of water too much or too less 
One other issue would be packing up in your warmed home, then taking the case out on a cold day. If the temperature drops below the dew point, water will condense on the sticks, and that I would not want to see. (Pack at 70F and 65% RH, and the dew point is 57F).

I would not use a plastic case as a long-term storage solution, but you know you will hit that long trip that will require you to fill up the case. Or maybe you got a shipment of dry sticks that you'd like to revive, but don't want to put in your main humidor right away.

Whatever the case, I might get a heart attack to not have beads in a traveldor with sticks.


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## rtrimbath (Sep 22, 2013)

I know this is an old post, but I just bought a Xikar 18 count travel case with the removable puck and can't figure out how to open up the humidifier to take out the foam. Did it just pop out for you?


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## mrnuke (Aug 24, 2013)

You should be able to grab the puck from the sides and just pull it out. On mine, it's attached with a magnet. If I slam the lid closed hard enough, it might even come off by itself.


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## rtrimbath (Sep 22, 2013)

Thanks! Took a little work, but I managed it without doing any damage. What a great idea! I feel a lot more comfortable with beads than the foam it came with. I bet my cigars could survive for weeks in this case now. I can't wait to test it out.


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## mrnuke (Aug 24, 2013)

You're welcome. This thing is pretty handy. I took it with me on a trip to Canada once. The cigars loved it.


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